The Law of Maximum also known as Law of the Maximum is a principle developed by
Arthur Wallace
Arthur Wallace (January 4, 1919 – October 11, 2008), was a soil scientist.
Biography
Schooling
Wallace received a B.S. from Utah State University (chemistry) in 1943 and at Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1949 (soils and plant nutrition). ...
which states that total growth of a crop or a plant is proportional to about 70 growth factors. Growth will not be greater than the aggregate values of the growth factors. Without the correction of the limiting growth factors, nutrients, waters and other inputs are not fully or judicially used resulting in wasted resources.
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Applications
The factors range from 0 for no growth to 1 for maximum growth. Actual growth is calculated by the total multiplication of each growth factor. For example, if ten factors had a value of 0.5, the actual growth would be:
: 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.001, which is 0.1% of optimum.
If each of ten factors had a value of 0.9 the actual growth would be:
: 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 = 0.349, which is 34.9% of optimum.
Hence the need to achieve maximal value for each factor is critical in order to obtain maximal growth.
Demonstrations of "Law of the Maximum"
The following demonstrates the Law of the Maximum. For the various crops listed below, one, two or three factors were limiting while all the other factors were 1. When two or three factors were simultaneously limiting, predicted growth of the two or three factors was similar to the actual growth when the two or three factors were limits individually and then multiplied together.
Growth Factors
A. Adequacy of Nutrients
B. Non-nutrient elements and nutrients excesses that cause toxicities (stresses)
C. Interactions of the nutrients
D. Soil Conditioning requirement and physical processes
E. Additional biology
F. Weather factors
G. Management
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,
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Crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...
s
# timing of operations
# choice of tillage
# use of appropriate cultivars and varieties
#
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
#
fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
distribution
# use of
soil conditioner
A soil conditioner is a product which is added to soil to improve the soil’s physical qualities, usually its fertility (ability to provide nutrition for plants) and sometimes its mechanics. In general usage, the term "soil conditioner" is often ...
s to correct problems
External links
Law of the Maximum, in ''Handbook of soil science'' by Malcolm E. Sumner
References
Computational biology